


This was a vent fic so idk how to title it

by sailorem



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: AFAB Apprentice (The Arcana), Anxiety Attacks, Gen, Gender-Neutral Apprentice (The Arcana), Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Sexual Harassment, No Beta, Other, Trans, few edits, more comfort in part 2?, supportive asra, vent fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:28:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24827584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sailorem/pseuds/sailorem
Summary: The moment was short-lived, but every one since then has been worried about his smile. About how you froze at first. About how he didn't look like he was heading your way until you caught his eye. About how out of breath you felt before you even tried to lose him in the crowds.
Relationships: Apprentice/Muriel (The Arcana), Muriel (The Arcana)/Reader
Comments: 9
Kudos: 36





	This was a vent fic so idk how to title it

**Author's Note:**

> *somewhat inspired by true events*
> 
> This is a Vent Fic and my first one on here so please be nice but also i will delete your comments if you try being nasty with no hesitation

Your skin had been crawling since it happened. Not that "it" was much anyway. You try to convince yourself that you're overreacting, but you can't get that stranger's smiling face out of your head.

Mere hours ago, you were in the marketplace. Asra needed more mukroot and Muriel could use more variety in his meals, anyway. Its not that what you were wearing was especially promiscuous. Really, it was just shorter than you'd usually have on but it was worth it for the confidence boost.

Or it was. Now you're not so sure. Passing isn't usually one of your concerns but something in the man's look told you that you should've gone for less femme today. Too bad you had to make eye contact to get the note.

The moment was short-lived, but every one since then has been worried about his smile. About how you froze at first. About how he didn't look like he was heading your way until you caught his eye. About how out of breath you felt before you even tried to lose him in the crowds.

A quick stop at the shop - Asra was gone again so you just left the root on the counter - and a trek through the woods, you were reentering Muriel's hut. The warmth from the fire and the smell of myrrh offer small comforts after such an eventful trip. Your heart was still beating loudly in your chest, and your skin felt tighter with each attempt at mental retreat, but at least the feeling of home put a small smile on your face.

You forced it to stay longer than it wanted to so that if someone walked in they hopefully wouldn't notice your struggle. Muriel must've been out checking the protection spells with Inanna, neither of them were anywhere to be seen. You quickly organized the few foods from the market in his kitchen before the tight feeling in your chest practically forced you to take a break.

Breathe. You had to remind yourself, eyes closed and hands pushing down on the counter to keep you from collapsing out of sheer anquish. You stood there a second before you realized how worrying the scene might be, immediately hurring to sit by the fire.

It's warm, and the furs nearby are soft. Maybe if you're lucly you can sleep the pain away.

You weren't so lucky. It felt like hours of shifting and trying to keep your eyes closed without repicturing the moment. You anxiously pulled at and ruffled your hair, often rubbing and ligghtly slapping your cheeks trying to get the image of his smile out of your head, before eventually giving up. You took the furs around yourself, wrapping into a ball of anxiety, and just layed in facing the fire. The only solace was granted by watching the flickering flames in front of you.

That's the position you were still in when Muriel came back. It had felt like hours, but there was no way of knowing how long it had actually been. Inanna was the first to notice you. She pushed past Muriel to get it and, after a quick sniff at the waiting groceries still on the counter, scuttled her way over to your piling mess of a self. Her wet nose on your firhead broke the trance the fire had put you in, and you started then blinked at her slowly.

Muriel may not have noticed you were even there, had Inanna not gone sniffing and the groceries not been only half put away. From his angle you just looked like a larger than usual pile of his furs. He had to move quite a few of them to see your face, slightly blocked by the hamd you put up when Inanna started trying to lick you a moment earlier.

"Hi," you wouldn't make eye contact. If he wasn't sure what was up, Muriel knew enough now. Something was bothering you. That much he was sure of - and whatever it was, he didn't like it.

"What's wrong?" He asked gently with a low voice. A hand went to move some hair out of your face but you flinched away. Touch felt wrong right now, even coming from someone you were so close to.

Muriel frowned more, if that was even possible, and moved his hand away. He no longer expected an answer and you didn't give him one. Instead, he gestured to Inanna, who trotted to the kitchen and back with thing for making tea. A pot was always on the fire, but he needed a brew and some cups to put it in once it was finished.

Never moving fron your side, but staying careful not to touch you, he stirred the pot and began making the tea. He had a special kind in mind, imbued with some herbs Asra had pointed out around the hut not long after they had first found the place. He had to send Inanna out to collect some more so that he could stay by your side. Muriel knew the importance of needing space, but even more so he understood how one could still not want to be left alone. Besides, Inanna was more than happy to help.

Muriel laddled the tea into two cups as it finished, topping it off with a sprinkle of blueish powder kept by the fire to cool things down. He sat it a foot or so in front of you and gestured that you should sit up to drink. Not wanting to, but knowing he was right, you started shifting in your cocoon as you tried to sit. You got close to being up before the weakness you noticed before pushed through your muscles. The sudden exhaustion caused to you topple over a bit and land at an angle agaisnt Muriel's side.

He would've blushed more if he wasnt worried about you, but still some red showed on his cheeks as he carefully moved to help you. Before his hand reached his side, though, he stopped and remembered before. He quietly asked if you wanted help and you nodded slowly. You didn't actually want it, but you knew you were stuck otherwise so you silently accepted. His hands were gentle and he pushed you upwright. With the furs around you, he was also able to avoid touching your skin as he did so. You appreciated it, a small smile on your still worried face as you adjusted.

He went to hand you your mug and you took it gladly. Unwillingly, your body had tensed when your fingers blushed, but he didn't call attention to it. You let out a shaky breathe as you tried to cool down your drink a bit more before drinking it.

The tea tasted like walking into the hut had felt multiplied by one hundred. It was sweet and earthy at the same time, with a bright smell that instantly calmed some nerves and relaxed your shoulders. For the first time since he had been home, you looked Muriel in the eye. He seemed alerted by the action and relieved and the dispearing worry lines as your expression relaxed.

"Thank you," those were the first words you had been able to say all after noon, "I don't know what I would do without you."

You meant every one.

**Author's Note:**

> Re: This is a vent fic; please be nice; i will delete mean comments with no hesitation
> 
> Also i plan on writting a part 2! Probably not much more than that but we'll see. I've missed writting a lot and this was more helpful than I thought it'd be


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